Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK takes current affairs documentary off air, while popular talk show has also been suspended, sources say
- Hosts of RTHK Talk Show 2021 say they were notified that recordings of future episodes would be suspended ‘until the management reviews and approves’ production
- Separately, RTHK confirms it has pulled an episode of current affairs show Hong Kong Connection, which featured a student union accused by university of breaking national security law
An evening talk show focused on history, literature, science and philosophy has been suspended by Hong Kong’s trouble-plagued RTHK, multiple sources have told the Post, while the public broadcaster also confirmed it axed another current affairs documentary featuring a university student union accused of breaking the national security law.
Meanwhile, the Communications Authority, the city’s broadcasting watchdog, found RTHK was in breach of its code of practice in a show aired in March last year, by implying that Taiwan was a country.
It noted the episode of Taiwan Story 3 used terms such as “breaking off diplomatic relations” to describe the cutting of ties between the self-ruled island and Burkina Faso, a West African country, and the Republic of Malawi in southeastern Africa.
“The use of the terms … suggested that Taiwan was a sovereign state capable of establishing formal diplomatic relations, and was inaccurate,” the authority wrote. It advised the broadcaster to observe the code more closely in the future.
Monday’s suspensions added to a list of shows the new director of broadcasting, Patrick Li Pak-chuen, a former deputy secretary for home affairs, has pulled the plug or put a brake on since he took charge on March 1.